Civil War reenactors drill at an encampment at South Park on Saturday. The encampment was part of the Civil War on the Western Frontier events that showed life in Lawrence and included various demonstrations.

They had to bite off paper surrounding gun powder, then quickly load it into their muskets.

"They could load and fire three aimed shots in one minute," Jim Speicher, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Kansas City, said Saturday.

Speicher presented a demonstration about muskets at a Union Civil War encampment on the west side of South Park, 11th and Massachusetts streets.

He directed two men dressed as guerrillas for the Confederate Army to fire. As the muskets were shot, people clamped their hands of their ears and cars passing by slowed down to see what was happening.

"It's a great opportunity to show how soldiers lived and connect people with this time in our history," Speicher said of the encampment.